World Matchplay 2025: Darts predictions, betting tips and preview for the Sky Sports-televised major at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool

Darts betting tips: World Matchplay

1pt each-way Gian van Veen to win the World Matchplay at 33/1 (General 1/2 1,2)

1pt each-way Stephen Bunting to win the World Matchplay at 22/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power, Betfair 1/2 1,2)

1pt each-way Josh Rock to win the World Matchplay at 16/1 (Coral 1/2 1,2)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

We've been spoilt with an abundance of sporting drama in recent weeks but that was all just a warm-up for the event that really kick starts the summer; the 32nd staging of the World Matchplay.

It's the second most prestigious ranked major on the PDC calendar and anyone who's ever graced the Winter Gardens stage will say it's one of the toughest tests to overcome. Well, unless your name is Phil Taylor.

WATCH: PHIL TAYLOR'S CRAZY STATISTICS AT THE WORLD MATCHPLAY

The Power won 16 of the first 24 editions which culminated in his fitting Blackpool finale in 2017 but since then there's been seven different winners out of seven; Gary Anderson, Rob Cross, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen, Nathan Aspinall and Luke Humphries.

This year it could become eight out of eight as Luke Littler prepares for his second World Matchplay as tournament favourite, while the in-form trio of Gerwyn Price, Josh Rock and Stephen Bunting are also expected to go far in pursuit of the Phil Taylor Trophy.

As usual, I'll run through each quarter of the draw...

World Matchplay: Quarter One

• (1) Luke Humphries v Gian van Veen
• (16) Danny Noppert v Cameron Menzies
• (8) Nathan Aspinall v Wessel Nijman
• (9) James Wade v Joe Cullen

Odds to win quarter: Humphries 5/4, Aspinall 5/1, Van Veen 13/2, Noppert 9/1, Nijman 10/1, Wade 11/1, Menzies 14/1, Cullen 28/1

There's no easy first-round games at the World Matchplay given how tough it is to qualify for the event in the first place, but there's a handful of players in particular that the seeds definitely didn't want to be drawn with. And unfortunately for Luke Humphries, he's got one of them.

The defending champion begins his quest against rising star Gian van Veen, who actually defeated Cool Hand in a Players Championship final back in March to win his maiden senior PDC title.

This breakthrough triumph had been coming for quite some time having previously finished runner-up in five tournaments since his first final in 2022 while he went on to reach another in the German Darts Grand Prix towards the end of April only to lose out to Michael van Gerwen.

Statistically he's currently fifth for seasonal averages with 97.98 compared to the 99.23 that second-placed Humphries can currently boast, while he's holding a similar position if you shorten the sample size to the start of June.

Last year's Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finalist has also enjoyed another decent major run under his belt by reaching the last eight at the UK Open and although that came to an end against eventual champion Luke Littler, who averaged 107 in a 10-4 victory, he did post 109.9 in a sensational 10-9 triumph over Damon Heta.

Nobody needs reminding how formidable Humphries is on the major stage having reached 11 of the last 18 finals - winning eight of them including this year's Premier League and World Masters - but over the best-of-19 format, this could actually be his most challenging obstacle en route to the final.

Former Blackpool champion Nathan Aspinall, who has reached a whopping five tournament finals this year and picked up two European Tour titles, would sense a huge opportunity if Humphries falls early but van Veen's confidence would be soaring to new levels by this point would be highly fancied to come through it.

Backing van Veen to win the quarter would be regarded as a bold enough call when you consider the magnitude of his first match but his career trajectory is heading towards something special in the near future so why not now?

At 33/1 he has exciting each-way potential while Betfred will offer you 28/1 but their place terms will also pay out 1/4 on a semi-final run.

Meanwhile spare a thought for Joe Cullen, who will be seething once again at the bookies making him the rank outsider and over double the odds of the player he beat before his outburst at the World Championship - Wessel Nijman!

PREDICTION: The winner of Luke Humphries v Gian van Veen to win the quarter, and the Dutchman has the potential to cause a shock.

World Matchplay: Quarter Two

• (4) Stephen Bunting v Ryan Joyce
• (13) Gary Anderson v Luke Woodhouse
• (5) Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
• (12) Dave Chisnall v Mike De Decker

Odds to win quarter: Anderson 5/2, Bunting 3/1, Clayton 5/1, Schindler 8/1, De Decker 17/2, Chisnall 11/1, Joyce 20/1, Woodhouse 28/1

It's been seven long years since Gary Anderson won his last of his eight major PDC title but at the age of 55, the evergreen Flying Scotsman comes here with plenty of fans dreaming that he could lift the Phil Taylor Trophy for a second time.

The 2018 World Matchplay champion is ranked fourth for averages this season with a lofty 98.07 while he's won two titles this season including one on the European Tour and also reached last weekend's Baltic Sea Open final where he finished runner-up to Gerwyn Price.

Anderson has also averaged over 100 in 30 of his 73 matches which gives him a percentage of 41% that is third only to Littler (58%) and Humphries (44%) and on a par with Josh Rock.

He heads to Blackpool a lot fresher than many rivals having managed his schedule to avoid fatigue, while he also proved at last year's Grand Slam of Darts that he can still defy the aging process by maintaining a high standard for longer format matches.

Anderson not only reached the semi-finals but came agonisingly close to defeating Littler in an absolute thriller that went down to the wire.

However there's another veteran in the 50 club who's also rolling back the years this season in Jonny Clayton.

The inspired Ferret, who admitted during the World Championship that his days at the top could be numbered, has been playing like a man desperate to get as much out of the game while he still can and was rewarded with runs to the World Masters final and the last four of the UK Open.

Like Anderson, the Welshman has picked up a title on the Pro Tour and the European Tour, while from a stats perspective he's been flying recently with six 100+ averages from his 13 matches in July.

However, both of these golden oldies could well have their dreams shot down by Stephen Bunting.

The Bullet has reached more finals than anyone this season with seven and he's won three of those including stage events in Bahrain, Riesa and Copenhagen to almost banish all memories of his difficult Premier League campaign.

Statistically he's right up there well inside the top 10 for seasonal averages (97.77) and if you shorten the sample size to the start of June he's second with 98.83.

Bunting may not have a great track record in Blackpool with just one quarter-final run in 10 appearances but it's fair to say he's a lot more established and confident than he ever has been so this could well be the year he mounts a serious Winter Gardens challenge.

Elsewhere Martin Schindler and Mike De Decker have enjoyed promising seasons so far especially the German who has picked up a couple of titles, but ultimately I feel it'll be between this quarter's 'big three'.

PREDICTION: Anderson has a great chance of providing a fairytale but ultimately the Bullet is showing the form that will see him reach the latter stages and possibly even the final.

World Matchplay: Quarter Three

• (2) Luke Littler v Ryan Searle
• (15) Peter Wright v Jermaine Wattimena
• (7) Damon Heta v Andrew Gilding
• (10) Rob Cross v Dirk van Duijvenbode

Odds to win quarter: Littler 8/15, Heta 9/1, Cross 9/1, van Duijvenbode 10/1, Wattimena 16/1, Searle 18/1, Wright 20/1, Gilding 28/1

Luke Littler returns to Blackpool with a score settle as he bids to become the World Matchplay's youngest ever champion.

The phenomenal 18-year-old was unseeded on his debut when crashing out in the opening round to Michael van Gerwen but 12 months on he's ranked two in the world and rated as the clear favourite to get his hands on the Phil Taylor Trophy.

Littler's overall seasonal statistics are as breathtaking as ever. He's the only player to have a yearly average of over 100 (100.93) while he's astonishingly reached three figures in 60 of his 102 matches and fired in 500 maximums which is over 100 more than his closet rival Gerwyn Price.

Since winning the world championship, the Nuke has predominantly focused his attention on the Premier League which goes some way to explaining why he's 'only' won two titles - although one of them was the UK Open thanks to a string of staggering performances.

Littler has only competed in two European Tour events - winning one of them in Belgium - while he's missed 15 of the 21 Players Championship tournaments as he opts to be highly selective in his schedule.

Apart from a failed World Cup bid and some fruitless World Series trips we haven't really seen him much since the Premier League final and it speaks volumes that the only headlines he's been making recently is for failing his driving theory test for a fourth time.

I'd expect him to be fresh, prepared and hungry to make more history at this iconic venue.

Elsewhere in this quarter, Damon Heta and Rob Cross have both enjoyed good seasons with two titles apiece and are comfortably inside the top 20 for averages since the start of May but ultimately everyone's hopes of getting through to the semis will rely on Littler being off his game.

PREDICTION: Luke Littler the obvious and logical choice.

World Matchplay: Quarter Four

• (3) Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld
• (14) Ross Smith v Josh Rock
• (6) Chris Dobey v Ricardo Pietreczko
• (11) Gerwyn Price v Daryl Gurney

Odds to win quarter: Price 9/4, Rock 7/2, MVG 4/1, Dobey 11/2, Smith 9/1, Gurney 16/1, Pietreczko 25/1, RVB 25/1

Gerwyn Price is in such confident mood right now that he even thinks he should be favourite to win the World Matchplay.

The Iceman is obviously quite a distant third in the betting behind the two Lukes but he's been quoted as saying: "I’m coming back into form, I wouldn’t say I’m at my ultimate best but at those crunch moments…I could have gone out to Wessel Nijmen in the European [Baltic Sea], I had to take out a 119, took that out.

"I had to take out another big shot later in the tournament, those shots are going in. The last two years those darts are not going in, I was missing doubles, but that’s changing round now. Sometimes you need that little bit of luck.

"You don’t know if they’re going to go in, you feel like they’re going to go in. There’s always a doubt, but the last couple of weeks they have been going in. The last 12-18 months they haven’t been and someone does it against you and you’re out of the tournament. I just need to ride that wave."

While this provides interesting insight into what goes through the mind of a player in a sport where fortunes are decided by such fine margins, there's someone else in this quarter who's also riding the crest of a huge wave.

Josh Rock was one of Price's opponents in the World Cup final when Northern Ireland came through an epic of the ages to beat Wales 10-9 and it could prove to be another springboard moment in his highly promising career.

The 24-year-old had been enjoying a very good season up until that point anyway having reached the UK Open semi-finals and also winning one of his two Players Championship finals, while his overall 2025 average of 98.74 is third only to Littler and Humphries.

Since the start of May he's second behind Littler with 99.44 and in his last 19 games in all competitions since the World Cup he's averaged over 100 on 10 occasions.

He opens up against the dangerous Ross Smith, who has also enjoyed a strong year with one Pro Tour title and a seasonal average of 97.10, and if he wins that he'll probably come up against Michael van Gerwen.

Rock won't fear anyone in this section, especially not a struggling MVG, and although you'd expect him to come up against Price in the quarter-finals, don't rule out the chances of fellow World Cup winner Daryl Gurney springing a few surprises of his own.

PREDICTION: Josh Rock to win the quarter and give Luke Littler a run for his money in the semis.

World Matchplay Darts: Daily Schedule

• Click here for Sky Bet odds
• * Each game must be won by two clear legs, with up to a maximum of five additional legs being played before the sixth additional leg is sudden-death

Saturday July 19 (1900 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• James Wade v Joe Cullen
• Danny Noppert v Cameron Menzies
• Luke Humphries v Gian van Veen
• Nathan Aspinall v Wessel Nijman

Sunday July 20
Morning Session (1300 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Damon Heta v Andrew Gilding
• Rob Cross v Dirk van Duijvenbode
• Peter Wright v Jermaine Wattimena
• Dave Chisnall v Mike De Decker

Evening Session (1900 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Gary Anderson v Luke Woodhouse
• Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
• Luke Littler v Ryan Searle
• Stephen Bunting v Ryan Joyce

Monday July 21 (1900 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Chris Dobey v Ricardo Pietreczko
• Gerwyn Price v Daryl Gurney
• Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld
• Ross Smith v Josh Rock

Tuesday July 22 (1900 BST)
Second Round (best of 21 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Humphries/Van Veen v Noppert/Menzies
• Aspinall/Nijman v Wade/Cullen
• Bunting/Joyce v Anderson/Woodhouse
• Clayton/Schindler v Chisnall/De Decker

Wednesday July 23 (1900 BST)
Second Round (best of 21 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Littler/Searle v Wright/Wattimena
• Heta/Gilding v Cross/Van Duijvenbode
• Van Gerwen/Van Barneveld v Smith/Rock
• Dobey/Pietreczko v Price/Gurney

Thursday July 24 (1900 BST)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Two matches

Friday July 25 (1900 BST)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Two matches

Saturday July 26 (1900 BST)
Semi-Finals (best of 33 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2
• Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4

Sunday July 27 (2030 BST)
Final (best of 35 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

• Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

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